


Hotman

by callmecaramleh



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 07:25:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16471298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmecaramleh/pseuds/callmecaramleh
Summary: Toph decides she needs to know who in the gaang is hot. This leads to quite a bit of trouble for Sokka.





	Hotman

**Author's Note:**

> It’s 1:30 in the morning and I am posting this without reading it over so there is probably plenty of typos. Will I fix them in the morning? Who knows. I’m just on a Zukka kick and wondering how long I will keep going for.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy. Just so you know, I elongated the timeline slightly to make this fic work, but it is generally canon compliant.

Sokka poked at the fire, trying to get the logs to catch. They hadn’t had time to get much supplies before it got dark, so he was trying to make do with the least amount possible. Their first day at the Western Air Temple had gone unproductively. They explored and played around, but Sokka was still stuck on the failed invasion plan. His shoulders felt heavy, and everyone seemed to want to do anything other than plan. It felt like it was up to him to prepare for everything.

“Ok,” Toph said, cracking her knuckles, “Now that we’ve got new members in our crew, I’m going to need some information.”

Teo, Haru, and The Duke had already gone to bed, leaving the original gang around the fire. Sokka wasn’t sure if they were keeping watch, or if it was just that none of them could sleep.

“Shoot,” replied Aang. His voice sounded chipper still, but it wasn’t altogether convincing.

“So normally I don’t give an elephant-rat’s ass about looks, but if I’m going to understand this group dynamic, I gotta know who’s hot and who isn’t.”

“Uhh...” was Sokka’s response.

“Twinkletoes, hot or not?” Toph asked.

“Toph, I really don’t see how this is important...” Katara said, scratching the back of her neck.

“Oh, so you’re not going to help a blind girl fit in? Just answer the question.”

“...Not hot?” Sokka finally answered. He had learned long ago that it was usually easier to give in to Toph’s weird wishes, rather than making her force you into anything.

“Hey!” Aang answered, crossing his arms over his chest, “I can be hot.”

“No offense Aang, but you are not hot,” Sokka countered, “Toph, Aang is so not hot that he is covered in tattoos and still manages to not be hot.”

“You’re cute though?” Katara offered to Aang, trying to alleviate some of his pouting. It seemed to help, and Sokka wasn’t sure if it was the fire light or if Aang was blushing.

“Sounds about right,” Toph said, “Katara is hot, right?”

“She’s my sister,” Sokka replied.

“Um...” Katara added unhelpfully.

“She’s hot,” Aang finally mumbled. Katara looked just as embarrassed as Aang had been, and Toph was beaming, like she could tell the trouble she was making.

“I thought so. She’s got those feminine wiles,” Toph said, “Now what about Sokka?”

“Definitely hot,” Sokka replied.

“Well I can’t trust _you_ , now can I?” Toph said, “Guys?”

“I can’t really help here,” Katara answered.

“I’m very neutral on Sokka,” Aang added.

“Ok, so the jury is still out on Sokka. I’m obviously hot, we all know this, so next up is Teo.”

Teo was deemed barely hot, The Duke was too young to be hot, and Haru was considered hot without the mustache. They were having fun though, Sokka realized. Their answers were making each other laugh, and Sokka felt like the burden on his shoulders was getting a little lighter. He had to keep reminding himself that he was a kid too.

Toph kept going, even after they had gone through the people in their current group. She confirmed that Suki was, of course, very hot. The Boulder was the only professional earthbender that was hot. Jet, they all sadly admitted was hot. After some fighting, they finally settled on that Roku must have been hot before he was old. Ty Lee was hot, but Azula and Mai were not, though the group conceded that they were not unattractive.

“So, the Prince then, is he hot?”

“Zuko is not hot,” Aang said decidedly.

“Yeah, I’m with Aang,” Katara agreed.

“Ok, now that ones kind of shocking,” Toph said, “That scar he has must be pretty ugly because he certainly _sounds_ hot. Sokka? Thoughts?”

“Well...” Sokka said, considering, “He did cut off that dumb ponytail.”

“Sokka, you can’t be serious,” Aang said, “He’s all... scary.”

“Yes, obviously, but if I forget the whole trying-to-kill-us thing, he is tall, and his eyes are that cool golden color, and he’s very muscular, and honestly if I didn’t know he was the Prince of the Fire Nation the scar might seem kind of cool..”

“Definitely sounds hot to me,” Toph said, “Not to mention I could totally feel Katara lying earlier. Zuko is hot.”

If Sokka had known then what was going to happen the next morning, he would have never admitted that he thought Prince Jerkbender was attractive. It’s not like he had thought about it much before Toph asked, yet now his opinion was out in the open.

“Hello, Zuko here.”

Zuko’s appearance in the camp now spelled out more problems for Sokka than his usual firey blasts did.

***

It had been a week since Zuko had joined their team. A week and a day since Sokka had decided that Zuko was hot. Now that Zuko was on their side it was all he could think about. Once Aang and Zuko got back from their dragon trip, Sokka quickly learned that firebending practice, where Zuko was too often shirtless, was an unsafe place for him.

Sokka didn’t know how to process all of this. Before Zuko he had never been attracted to anyone he didn’t _like_. Even with Zuko on their side, Sokka still didn’t trust him. He wasn’t even charming or particularly interesting, usually just awakwardly moping around, trying to stay out of people’s way. Sokka supposed that that was sort of their fault. They weren’t exactly doing their best to make him feel welcome. Katara, at least, was justified in making him feel like an outcast. Sokka, on the other hand, was avoiding him more out of concern for Zuko finding out that he thought he was attractive, rather than thinking Zuko would betray them all.

Sokka thought that he was at least in the clear of Toph outright telling Zuko, but apparently he was wrong.

“Sparky,” Toph said as they all ate dinner one evening. Meals was one of the few times in which Zuko would dare to be near the gang, and one of the times that Sokka couldn’t avoid him. “Do you think Sokka is hot?”

Sokka nearly choked on his stew, and Aang had to pat him on the back to get him through his coughing fit. Toph was a menace, and Sokka was crazy to have ever let his guard down around her.

“Uh...” came Zuko’s response. He seemed a bit stunned, and Sokka almost thought he was blushing.

“I don’t mean anything weird by it,” Toph clarified, “I just can’t tell who’s hot and who isn’t. I asked around and got a good idea on everyone else, but no one seems sure about Sokka.”

Sokka didn’t realize that he was staring at Zuko, waiting, embarrassedly, for his answer. At least, he didn’t realize until Zuko looked at him, perhaps meaning to assess his attractiveness. Sokka looked away quickly, pretending the warmth in his cheeks was from the fire and not from thoughts of Zuko.

“Sokka is hot,” Zuko finally mumbled. Sokka let out a breath, feeling stupid that he felt so relieved.

“Like, _hot_ hot, or like, passable?” Toph asked. She just wouldn’t quit.

“I guess the first one?” Zuko said, “He, um, he’s got very blue eyes, like the sea, but his skin looks... warm. So there’s this contrast... If that helps you figure it out better.”

“Very helpful. I would have never guessed that he was hot,” Toph replied.

Sokka’s mind was reeling. As much as he kept telling himself that this was not a big deal, that Zuko had just been answering a question, that Zuko just wanted to fit in, and that he didn’t even like Zuko, his stomach kept feeling like it was doing flips. Zuko had never seemed very decent at lying, as evil as he had been, which meant there was a good chance that he had least partially believed Sokka was attractive. His mind was full of what ifs, so much so that he almost didn’t notice when Toph continued.

“You know, Sokka said that you were hot too.”

“Toph!!” Sokka all but shrieked. He wanted to crawl under a rock, or maybe throw himself off the the side of the canyon. This was the type of awkward memory that would keep him up at night.

“I, uh, think Sokka might have just been being nice,” Zuko said, “I’ve got this scar on my face...it’s, um, disfiguring.”

Toph shrugged. “Sokka said the scar was cool.”

“First of all,” Sokka said, knowing even as the words came out of his mouth that he was digging his own grave, “I said that the scar would be hot if I didn’t know he was Prince Jerkbender. Like, on someone else it could be a cool, mysterious symbol that they stood up to the Fire Nation or something. Secondly—“

“I mean,” Zuko said tentatively, “That’s almost how I got my scar. I, um, spoke up against this strategy in my father’s war room. They were basically planning to sacrifice hundreds of new recruits, which I didn’t think was respectful to our people... As punishment I had to face my father in a duel.”

A hush had fallen over the group. After months of fighting Zuko and a week of having him on their side, they still barely knew him. Sokka had always assumed the burn had been an accident, or at least something Azula had done. He couldn’t imagine that kind of pain coming from ones own father. The most pain Hakoda had ever put on Sokka was the pain of missing him.

“And you lost?” Sokka found himself asking, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“I didn’t even fight. It didn’t seem right to fight my own father. I... I hadn’t thought it was him I would be facing,” he said, “And after that is when I was banished. I was told I couldn’t come home until I had captured the Avatar.”

“Sorry you couldn’t capture me...” Aang said, sounding actually remorseful. He was a strange kid.

“I’m not,” Zuko said, “This is where I’m meant to be. I’m glad to be here, helping to stand up to the Fire Nation properly.”

It was silent for a minute, just quiet breaths and the crackle of the fire. Sokka stirred his stew around, no longer feeling very hungry. He couldn’t stop trying to imagine what it would be like not knowing his father supported what he was doing.

“So it’s settled then,” Toph finally said, “The scar is hot.”

***

Sokka ended up unable to sleep, but not for the reason he thought. Where he expected to have his mind force him to relive the embarrassing night, or to turn over ideas of Zuko’s hotness, it instead focused on how much he missed his dad. He kept imagining horrible scenarios that the Fire Nation might put his dad through, and it was all his fault. The invasion had been his plan, and it had failed. There was only one option. He had to break his dad out of jail.

***

The Boiling Rock was the scariest experience of Sokka’s life. Over the years he had done plenty of prison breaks, but none as serious as this one. Honestly, he owed their success more to Zuko’s scary exgirlfriend more than anything else. Usually there was a fair amount of certainty and confidence that went into Sokka’s plans, but in the Boiling Rock it was mostly just luck.

Luck, and a lot of help, particularly from Zuko who chose go with him, who stayed even when he didn’t have to, and who went through the torture of being a prisoner of the Fire Nation all to save people that were strangers to him. When he had first met Zuko all those months ago with his silly ponytail and ambush of their tribe, he had never imagined that Zuko would have a heart. He deserved much more than a thank you, but that’s all Sokka could spare at the moment.

Azula’s airship was much bigger than the balloon that they had flown in on. There was a small but sufficient sleeping quarters in a separate room from the engine. The others were resting, exhausted after the break out, but Sokka knew that Zuko wouldn’t sleep until they were back at the Air Temple.

Sokka walked into the engine room, leaning on the wall. Zuko was sitting by the fire, keeping watch of it.

“I thought I should say thanks,” Sokka said.

Zuko sighed. “It’s nothing, really, you don’t have to—“

“To Mai. Do you know any way I can get in contact with her?” Sokka was grinning, and Zuko rolled his eyes. Spending time in prison together had forced them to bond rather quickly. Sokka knew how to rely on Zuko, and found himself thinking of Zuko more as a friend than as the hot formerly-evil new group member. Zuko seemed more than capable of pulling his own weight in the goodness department.

“Oh shut up,” Zuko replied.

“In all seriousness I can understand what you see in her more now. She’s scary, but she’s a badass. Maybe you can get her to switch sides permanently and you can reconnect.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Zuko replied, “Mai is incredible, but... we’re bad for each other.”

“Well still get her on our side. She’s too good of a fighter to pass up.” Sokka tried to control the part of his brain that was freaking out about Zuko affirming his singleness. He tried to push out thoughts of how hot Zuko was, but found that his attraction to Zuko was no longer just founded on looks. Spirits, he might actually _like_ Zuko.

“What about you and Suki?” Zuko asked, “You two are a couple, right?”

“Oh... uhh...” Sokka stammered, “I don’t think so. We sort of were but... Well we haven’t seen each other in a while and she didn’t seem interested in me anymore. I suppose I should talk to her about it, just to be sure.”

“Right...” Zuko said, “I can’t see why she wouldn’t be interested though. You’re a catch.”

Zuko wasn’t looking at Sokka, the scarred side of Zuko’s face being the only thing visible to him. If he had been able to see all of it, he would have known that Zuko was blushing.

“Thank you...”

***

Sokka had thought things would go back to normal when they were back at camp, but there was no such luck. After rescuing Suki and Hakoda (and Chit Sang), Zuko was now a well accepted member of the gang. People could do chores with him, joke with him, or even play games without it being so weird anymore. This meant that Sokka saw a lot more of Zuko, as he no longer hid in the seclusion of his room. Seeing him more meant that Sokka also spent more time thinking about him, and his muscular build and golden eyes and awkward smile. He thought about how he knew he could trust Zuko. He thought about Zuko’s laugh when he teased him. He thought about how Zuko grew up in a horrible place, and still grew to be an impressive, helpful, compassionate person.

Suki sat down beside Sokka as he watched Zuko and Aang training from afar.

“Hey, can we talk?” she asked, her tone slightly hushed. It wasn’t a whisper, but clearly this conversation was meant to be private. Sokka had been waiting for this. He didn’t want to avoid talking to Suki, but he hadn’t wanted to instigate it either.

“Of course,” he said. Sokka tried to look her in the eye, but his nerves got the better of him and he focused on her ear instead. He hoped she wouldn’t be able to notice.

“We’re not right for each other, are we?” she said, halfway between statement and question, “I love you Sokka but... it’s missing something.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Sokka said. As much as he had been feeling this himself, it still hurt when things had to end. “I love you too Suki. I wish I could love you better.”

Sokka wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulder and she leaned on him slightly. With every rise and fall of her breath, things started to feel more normal. Suki was strong. He didn’t have to be afraid that she would disappear when he blinked his eyes. That had happened to him once before, and he supposed he was increasingly fearful that people relied on him to survive. It was surprisingly nice to realize that Suki had no need of him.

“I heard you think Zuko is hot,” she said after a few minutes of them watching the firebending practice.

Sokka groaned, “Toph has got to learn to keep her big mouth shut.”

“I’m sure I would have figured it out on my own eventually,” Suki said with a smile, “You two were pretty chummy in prison.”

“It’s not like that,” Sokka said, “We’re just friends.”

“Sokka, we’re only guaranteed one life, and you should know by now that ours could get cut short at any second. You might as well tell your hot friend how much you like him. Give yourself a chance.”

***

It was dark. There were snores coming from around the campfire. Sokka, like all the nights when the moon chose not to come out, was stuck, impossibly tired and unable to sleep. He kept turning over in his sleeping bag, begging dreams to appear even though he knew they wouldn’t. No moon meant no sleep.

Eventually he just got up, hoping to go for a little walk around the canyon, but instead his feet had other plans. They carried him into the temple and upwards, all the way to the room they had given Zuko those weeks ago when he joined. Even with Zuko fitting in better now, he still hadn’t started to sleep outside like the rest of them.

Sokka knocked. He knew he shouldn’t have—he knew it was too late at night—but he couldn’t seem to help it. The only thing he wanted in that moment was to see Zuko, and in his tired, insomniatic state, he couldn’t seem to tell himself “no”.

“Come in,” came Zuko’s gravely voice, “Is it an emergency?”

Zuko was sitting up in the bed that rested close to the door, almost like he had never been to sleep. He was shirtless, holding a little flame in his hand that danced shadows around the room.

“No, I’m sorry... I just couldn’t sleep... I’ll go.” Sokka said, trying to move backward, back out into the hallway, but it was too late. Zuko had grabbed his wrist already, gently pulling Sokka onto the bed next to him.

“Why can’t you sleep?” Zuko asked, punctuating it with a yawn that he couldn’t manage to hide.

“There’s no moon out tonight.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Zuko replied, “Um, if it makes you feel any better, in the Fire Nation we say the moon is always there, and the moon cycles are created when Agni decides to give it—give _her_ some of their strength. So you don’t have to worry. Even when you can’t see her, she’s there.”

“I wish Agni would be a little more generous.”

Zuko laughed. Sokka thought that it was probably the first time he had heard Zuko laugh properly.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” Zuko asked once his giggles had recovered, “Any particular reason you came to my room?”

“I just... wanted to see you,” Sokka said, “And no one else.”

“I saw you talking to Suki earlier,” was Zuko’s quick response. It seemed off topic to Sokka.

“Yeah?”

“It seemed like things went well for you two?”

“Oh, uh, I guess,” Sokka started, “As well as break ups can, if you can even call it a break up.”

“You’re not together?”

“No.”

“You looked together...”

“Well we are not.”

There was a pause. The light in Zuko’s hand seemed to grow and diminish with each breath he took. Sokka could feel the warmth pouring into the little fire from Zuko’s shoulder. It brushed against his own, sending little pops of heat through his body. Zuko was not just figuratively hot, but literally as well.

“...Do you need time?” Zuko finally asked.

“What?”

“Before you can be with someone else. Do you need a break?” Zuko’s voice sounded more timid than usual. The gravely tone had been smoothed over by meekness.

“We had a lot of time apart already. I think I’m ok.”

“Then... would it be ok for me to tell you that I like you?”

Sokka inhaled, his hand reaching out to pull one of Zuko’s hands away from his little flame. It weakened, but was still enough to illuminate Zuko’s golden eyes and cast shadows around his cheekbones. Sokka laced their fingers together, gently rubbing his thumb on the back of Zuko’s hand.

“I would love that.”

“Sokka, I’m... interested in you. With you I am certain to never know what will come next in my life, even when I have one of your incredible plans to spell it out for me. I’m sure that with you I will be able to smile even on stormy days. I... I have fun with you. I like you. I want to... to pursue you. To pursue us. If that’s ok.”

“That’s more than ok,” Sokka said, “I trust you so much, and like you, and... enjoy you.”

Zuko snorted. “ _Enjoy_ me?”

“Shut up, I’m trying to be romantic,” Sokka huffed. It made him angry that his heart continued to flutter even as Zuko teased him. It wasn’t fair that Zuko could be so continuously charming.

“Well how about you enjoy this,” Zuko said, leaning in closer to Sokka. Sokka’s brain no longer seemed to be functioning. Zuko’s face was just getting closer, and closer. He watched Zuko’s eyes flutter close, but kept his open, even as the flame flickered out, Zuko’s hand moving his hand to cup Sokka’s cheek, finger tips still hot from the flame. He felt himself leaning into the warmth, focusing on that until the space between them disappeared, their lips pressing together softly.

Sokka’s hands adjusted, snaking their way around Zuko’s waist. His mind was jumbled, trying to balance the shock of kissing Zuko with the mechanics of returning the kiss. Where his brain was fumbling, the rest of him was just melting, seeking out every aspect of Zuko’s warmth.

“See, that was much more enjoyable.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I just sort of skipped over the Boiling Rock. I figured us Zukka shippers have read our fair share of BR intensive fics. They’re all good, and my sleepy brain was like “ehhhh, they know this is where people fall in love. I’m prison.” I don’t know. Anyway, hope you liked it.


End file.
